Japanese giant Kyocera, which had previously weathered the Asian economic typhoons, said that its profits fell for the first half of its financial year to 30 September. According to the company, the drop was due to lack of demand for its IC packaging and also its personal phone systems. The company posted a net profit of ¥16.6 billion on sales of ¥358.3 billion. Kyocera claimed that while its pre-tax profit for the entire financial year will fall to ¥80 billion deals it has to sell Iridium satellite phones and plastic packaging for chips will help it to maintain its position. ®